In silver halide color photographic materials, as photographic couplers that will react with the oxidized product of an aromatic primary amine developing agent to form color-formed dyes, generally a yellow coupler, a magenta coupler, and a cyan coupler are used in combination.
The color-formed dyes obtained from these couplers are required to have, for example, excellent spectral absorption properties and high fastness to light, heat, humidity, etc. The excellent spectral absorption properties desired in photographic materials should be such that color-formed dyes formed from respective couplers do not have undesired absorption in wavelength regions other than the desired major absorption. For example, in the case of yellow color-formed dyes, since the major absorption part of the formed dye is broad, the color reproduction of yellow hue and green hue is unsatisfactory.
In color print materials used for recording and storing images, conventionally, pivaloylacetanilide-type yellow couplers are used. However, since the major absorption of the yellow dyes obtained from these couplers is broad, the color reproduction is unsatisfactory and a technique for its improvement is desired. The fastness of the color-formed dyes obtained from the above yellow couplers is poorer than that of the color-formed dyes obtained from magenta couplers and cyan couplers, the change in color balance of the respective color-formed dyes during long-term storage is conspicuous, and therefore improvement is strongly desired.
The present inventors have found that when a malondiamide-type yellow coupler is used, since the major absorption of the yellow dye image is sharp in comparison with conventional pivaloylacetanilide-type yellow couplers, the color reproduction is improved; but it has been found that for color photographic materials, particularly, for example, color print papers, which will be exposed to light for a long period of time or which are required to be suitable for storage in a place having a high humidity and a high temperature for a long period of time, further improvement in image stability is desirable.
Thus, to improve light-fastness of such yellow color-formed dyes, steric hindrance phenol compounds described, for example, in JP-A ("JP-A" means unexamined published Japanese patent application) Nos. 48535/1979 and 222853/1985, polyalkylpiperidine compounds described, for example, in JP-B ("JP-B" means examined Japanese patent publication) No. 20617/1982 and JP-A Nos. 116747/1984 and 11935/1984, and compounds described, for example, in JP-A Nos. 239149/1987, 240965/1987, 254149/1987, and 300748/1990, are known, and when yellow couplers are used in combination with these compounds, fastness to light is indeed improved.
However, even though the conventional attempt to improve image preservability by using a combination of an image stabilizer with a malondiamide-type coupler exhibits an effect, in many cases such an attempt is attended with lowering of other various photographic performances. For example, although stability to light can be increased, not all performances can be satisfied fully; for example preservability in darkness cannot be improved or is deteriorated, or, particularly when color photographic materials using a high silver chloride emulsion with a silver halide content of 90 mol % or more are stored after the production, a change in sensitivity is brought about.